Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-07-30
TIE CITY'S BREAD.
MACHINERY THAT EXCElS The
HAND IN TURNING OUT LOAVES.
The Men, Teams and Capital Employed.
Difference Between Hand MADE
Loayes and Those Made by Machinery.
Loaves in the Oven.


Loaves and Those Made by Machinery.
Loaves in the Oven.
loaf of bread-the most ingenious ma
chinery has been devised to make it; ma
chinery that viii beat the hand all to pieces
in purity, auickness, and the quality OF the
article turned out. In the large establish
ments a machine mixes the sponge, makes
and kneads the dough, and dry heat IN brick
conduits bakes it, while steam in coils OF pipe
gives the delicious gloss to the upper crust
To the average consumer loaf or bread
seems to be just what its name implies; but,
then, one of the leading concerns in the city
turns out seventeen varieties OF Dreadful
reka, home made. Vienna, hotel, Pullman,
brick, pan, American cream, Canada, Jumbo,
new process corn, Graham, all rye, half rye,
and Hamburg. This does not include pum-
pernickel and schwarzbrod of the sturdy
Teuton. nor the savory horn bread OF the
French gournand.
OF leading firms who have made the pro-
duction of bread an object of big investments
there are five in the city. One OF them en-
plovs sixty teams, 100 people, capital OF
500. 900, and turns out "A, 600 loaves of bread
every day. The five firms, together with a
dozen wholesalers, have not less than oOO
teams. 100 men and 81, 250, 900 employed,
while the estimate for the 342 retailers Is
1000 teams, 1000 men and S750000 capital,
making a total of !, 800 teams, 800 men and
Sc. DOC. 600. All these agencies are busy from
morn till night, and part OF the latter, to
turn out the 800, 600 loaves Of bread which,
an experts estimate says, are daily consumed
in Chicago, not to speak of rolls, buns, twists,
cakes and crackers.
WHAT DIFFERENCE!
A loaf of bread-an everyday occurrence,
vet what difference between the small baker
who 1setsn his own sponge. kneads his own
dough with big, red knuckles not overclean,
and then goes to rest for nap with piece
of underdone dough for pillow. waiting
till the @rise" comes, and the steam bakery.
It's worth ones while to make a trip through
one of the big establishments, especially at
this time of the year, when the streets are
cold and the sidewalks slippery. The spong-
ers, mealy all over, make the sponge-the
yeast and just enough -four to give the mass
consistency-on huge, fat tables, which are
rolled into warm room, the temperature Of
which is kept to a certain degree with great
nicely.
Then the sponge, after it has fermented,
together with the necessary -four for the
bake, is turned into hopper, where "con-
ductors" with eccentric arms knead the
dough until it is perfectly seven" and ''done. N
The same hopper brings the dough to huge
troughs in the basement, where the mass is
allowed to rest for another rise" timed
with almost absolute certainty. Then the
benchmen mold the loaf, after the piece Of
dough has been weighed. This, of course,
has to be done by hand. and so experienced is
a first class benchman that he has but rarely
to add to or take from the lump of dough
which is to make the loaf of certain weight.
Twice the dough is worked over" two
humps being handled at the same time by the
benchman, whose left hand must be trained
as well as his right. Then the oven man does
the baking. either in separate pans or on long
trays according to the quality of the crust
desired
REGULATING THE HEAT.
In the ovens the heat is so well regulated
that the oven man knows to q second when
his bread is done, it scarcely requiring look
during the baking. Dry air ducts do the
baking for common bread. while steam coils
at the ceiling Of the oven permits moist heat
to be turned on at any moment for a fine
finishing of the crust. Boys do the dumping
| of the bread from the ovens into the baskets,
| and then it is ready for the last two handlers,
the driver and the grocer In the bakery
visited the common five-cent loaf Of bread
weighed seventeen ounces; Eureka bread
| costing six cents, and one day old, weighed
eighteen ounces: home made bread, also six
| cents had the same weight-one day pro
ducing shrinkage from one-half to one
| ounce. and q six cent loaf Of Vienna bread
weighing between sixteen and seventeen
| ounces.
There is a common belief" said the baker
that when flour goes down so per cent.
which, of course, it never does, bread ought
to go down 80 per cent. too, but, you see, 6
loaf Of bread requires just the same handling
machinery and capital invested whether
| flour is 81 or 50 barrel" Big concerns pur
chase the -four in large quantities and keeE
it certain length of time before it is used
| Old flour makes better bread and permits OF
exact calculations for rising of the dough ant
tho bake
White-hooded sisters of charity do not
little driving in the bread line, gathering il
unstable loaves for the poor in their care
and. as to stale wheat bread, paper hanger,
use not a few loaveS to clean wall paper anC
smoky ceilings. Lincrusta-W Walton, the new
ornamental composition for wainscoting anC
| plafonds, is almost exclusively renovated b.
! being rubbed with stale bread.-Chicag,
| Herald.